


ouroboros

by irrilogical



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 23:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17672309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irrilogical/pseuds/irrilogical
Summary: Where one ends, the other begins.





	ouroboros

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhh this probably won't make sense to anyone else, but i had to write it? if you read this.... thanks

The map that Hajime has is made up of general outlines identified by captions with only a thick, dotted line laid across the paper to guide him to where he wants to go.

And it’s because it’s him who carries it, does it make absolute perfect sense.

He trudges through the forest, nothing but the map in his hands and three coins in his pocket. He never looks back as he walks, never second guesses his direction and never curses the map left for him despite the vagueness of it.

When he reaches the edge of the forest, the sun is just setting over the horizon. It’s been almost a day since he’s left town, but he doesn’t decide to find a place to settle for the night.

He looks at his map, holds it up to the setting sun, and watches as the thick, dotted line becomes a thin, solid one. The star that marks the town moves across the page to the side of the forest facing away from the town. One side of the line starts at the star and continues off the map.

It’s in that direction that Hajime continues to walk.

He walks well into the night, and as he walks, the world gets quieter. The crickets start to disappear, the wind dies down, until Hajime hears nothing.

And he keeps walking until he can’t see anything either.

The world around him slowly fades away as he walks until he’s walking nowhere, in nothing. He looks forward and sees nothing but endless black, but he still continues to walk. He doesn’t pull out his map as he does.

Eventually, the world comes back, but it’s not the world he’s familiar with.

The ceiling is high, the walls only faintly light by the ever-flickering torches placed on them. The ground under his feet is hard, and every so often something ends up under a foot and crunches as he steps. He doesn’t look down, or back, or around, he looks forward and he walks.

The solid ground he walks on soon turns to creaking wood, and the sound of running water fades into his ears. He’s standing on a dock now; a boat sits at the end of it with a cloaked figure on it.

As Hajime approaches, the figure holds out a hand and Hajime takes the three coins from his pocket and places them in their palm.

Then, he walks onto the boat.

The boat sails through the water silently, and as time passes, the world around Hajime gets lighter and louder.

The water slowly lightens and turns from black to red as pools of lava come into view among stalagmites and stalactites larger than Hajime himself. The wind rushing past him turns to screeching and screaming.

The boat passes scene after scene of figures Hajime should find familiar undergoing scenes of bloody torture and pain, but he doesn’t look anywhere besides forward. Not even once.

The boat docks at an elaborate harbour. There are many boats in it, all wooden, all small, all empty. When Hajime gets out of his boat and starts to walk towards the marble castle that looks over the harbour, the figure in his boat disappears as well.

Hajime walks up the dusty path to the marble castle. He doesn’t stare at it in awe or admire it as most visitors do, he simply walks right through the front doors with a push of his hands.

There is a doghouse tucked into the corner of the room, but it’s empty. There are three giant collars sitting in a neat pile beside the doghouse. They’re dusty, as if they haven’t been touched in ages.

In the middle of the room is a throne larger than Hajime himself. It’s carved from marble, decorated and accented with gold bands and covered in intricate, hand-carved designs. But the gold is dull, and parts of it are missing- either smashed or simply removed.

The one sitting in the throne is just as large as his throne but is a much different picture compared to it. His gold crown is shimmering, the white of his clothing bright, his face is sparkling. He sits tall and confident as a smirk breaks out on his face as Hajime stops in front of his throne.

“Back again?”

Hajime’s hands clench into fists as his sides, but he doesn’t speak.

The throne-sitter laughs, loud and empty, hallow, “Of course you are. After all, a mere mortal cannot cheat Fate after all, can he?”

“Hades, what do you want this time?” Hajime’s voice shakes only a little as he speaks. “Tell me, I’ll give it to you—get it for you—whatever you want.”

Hades hums, rests his cheek in the palm of an arm he’s propped up on side of his throne, “but you’ve already done so much for me, haven’t you small one? Do you even have anything else to give up?”

Hajime looks up for the first time since his journey has started and stares Hades in the eyes, “I do.”

Hades’ smirk grows until it takes up almost all his face, “Well then, I suppose we can do this one last time, can’t we?”

 

-

 

Tooru abruptly wakes in his bed with Issei and Takahiro at his sides. He looks around to find—

A splitting pain runs through his head, and he winces, holding his head in his hands.

When it passes, he looks around the room again, trying to remember what he was looking for before the pain had come.

He can’t remember.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hajime is the start, tooru is the end and that's enough iwaoi for me forever.


End file.
